Driving With Anxiety/Fear/Apprehension: Understanding the Cognitive and Emotional Experience of Drivers to Design Assistance Systems

52.2% of drivers experience at least “occasionally” uncomfortable driving situations where emotions such as Anxiety/Fear/Apprehension (AFA) occur and even 17% of people declare being particularly hampered, or even handicapped in their daily lives, by their fear of driving. With Renault Group, an ergonomic approach has been implemented with the aim of designing driving assistance systems to improve the comfort and safety for this type of drivers. We report on the results of two studies to (study 1) identify the anxiety-provoking situations and the profile of people who are subject to this type of feelings, and (study 2) to obtain an in-depth understanding of the lived experience of these drivers in problematic situations. Study 1’s results show that women experience higher levels of AFA than men in all tested driving situations and particularly on winding roads, when driving unfamiliar vehicles or when driving at night. Young drivers (aged 18–35) report AFA more frequently than older drivers. However, situations involving specifically vision-related issues are perceived as more anxiety-provoking by those aged 66 and over, as well as driving with an agitated or talkative passenger. Explanatory hypotheses, both cultural and cognitive, are proposed for these different results. Study 2 aims to deepen the previous results through a qualitative approach. 26 anxious drivers (2/3 women) aged 22 to 75 were interviewed individually (1) about their driving history and (2) the driving situations they were most apprehensive about. Then, they were asked (3) to describe in detail one anxiety-provoking driving situation, using the Explicitation Interview method, to question the dynamics of the cognitive activities, actions, thoughts, perceptions, and emotions at that moment, (4) to elicit the coping strategies they might use to manage anxiety-provoking situations, and (5) to imagine potential assistance systems. The results highlight that lack of confidence, low driving frequency, having an accident, and having stressful supervisors while you’re learning to drive, can lead to AFA. Women and young people mentioned more coping strategies than the others. Moreover, men described their emotions and difficulties less directly than women. The fact that men are clearly less concerned by AFA while driving remains an issue to be investigated.